UAE leg - the big success of IPL 7: Gavaskar

Appointed as the interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and as well as the Indian Premier League (IPL) as per the directives of the Supreme Court, former Indian captain and batting legend, Sunil Gavaskar has expressed satisfaction over the way the seventh edition of the IPL has been conducted.

Speaking to the official website of the T20 League, Gavaskar said the highlight of this season's tournament was its success in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which hosted the first 20 matches of the season in three venues (Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah), after the tournament was forced to shift from India on account of general elections.

"I think the highlight for me was the way the UAE leg went through. The response we got from fans and organizers there was incredible. The organization and the management went on very smoothly as well", Gavaskar said.

Talking about the administrative challenges involved in hosting a lengthy tournament such as the IPL, Gavaskar admitted that the entire process was an eye-opener for him. "From the administration point of view, to see how the logistics works, and trying to get everything together, has been a revelation. To see what kind of hard work goes into it has been an eye-opener. A lot of people, who come to the television control room, have their jaws dropping when they see the kind of work that needs to be done to get the picture to the viewers screen. While the players and commentators get all the kudos, it's really the back-room boys, the engine room of the administration, and the TV coverage people that do all the hard work. Seeing all that closely has been a real revelation for me," he said.

Gavaskar said the biggest challenge for him as an individual was to convince the other members of the team to work on his ideas and observations, experienced during his playing career. "The biggest challenge for him is to put forward some of the ideas he has and the suggestions he has based on the observations he might have made while playing, and to convince the other members of the administration team to act on them. Often, we go by tradition and there's reluctance to accept a change. That is the biggest challenge for a player-turned-administrator," he said.

"It has been a lot easier because frankly there has been very little change that's required to be made. What I tried to do when I took over the job is to make the IPL organization a little more media-friendly and more accessible to the media. It is important to keep the media as informed as possible and try to keep them in loop so that there are no unwanted speculations and wild rumours. At the end of the day, it's the media people who'll have to say whether or not it has worked, but I do believe that this accessibility has given the BCCI and IPL a better face than before", he added.

With suspicions about rampant fixing always on the horizon, particularly in T20 leagues, Gavaskar felt the involvement of fans can go a long way in removing speculations about the characters of the players. "The fans can actually help to a great extent because in the end its they who follow the game and it's their belief that matters. They should stay away from all the loose talks that happen when the results don't go their teams way. That's when all the speculations happen. It's important for the fans to have faith in the cricketing fraternity. Just because one or two players have gone down the wrong road, it doesn't mean the rest of the players are guilty. That is what the fans should actually believe in," the former Indian captain said.

Gavaskar felt cricket needed more marketing, and that was one aspect of the IPL that could be adopted other countries. "It's the marketability. The way this event is marketed and promoted, I think the other countries can take a cue from it to market, not only the T20s, but the other formats as well", he said.

Gavaskar also revealed that the advent of the IPL had helped in reducing animosity between rival players. "It's the respect among the cricketers of different countries. Prior to 2008, there was a lot of animosity among the players of different nationalities. Now, the intensity is still there and the players still play hard, but the animosity has come down incredibly. There will always be an odd player who will not be liked by an opposition, but that's the fact of life," he remarked.

While happy with the way the tournament was conducted, the former Indian opener felt that had he given complete charge, he would have insisted on good pitches and longer boundaries across every stadium.

"If I were given complete charge, I would insist on the pitches being good. That's what I did when I landed in the UAE because I wasn't sure if the pitches there would be good. I've always felt that on a good cricket pitch, you'll get a good cricket game. That is something I would like to see more often. From the bowlers point of view, I'd like to see the boundaries being a bit longer. I do understand that certain distance is required between the boundary and the fence with all the sliding that the fielders do these days. But I still feel that the boundaries are being moved in a lot more than they should. At every ground I have seen, the boundaries could have been at least five to ten yards deeper. That would be the difference between a lot of those marginal sixes and a wicket for the bowler. It would also mean that a six is really a six," he said.

The seventh edition of the Indian Premier league concludes with the final on June 1st at Bangalore. Kolkata Knight Riders are already through while KIngs XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings will battle it out for the final spot.

Kolkata Knight Riders' victory celebrations post their triumphant Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign were marred by a near-stampede followed by a lathi-charge as more than 150,000 supported clambered over barricades and gates to get a glimpse of their heroes.